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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27597569">Hear No Evil</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceandShadow/pseuds/AceandShadow'>AceandShadow</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Hell and Fire [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Destiny (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, F/M, Game: Destiny: Rise of Iron DLC, Post-Game: Destiny 2: Forsaken DLC, Reconciliation, SIVA (Destiny) - Freeform, Temptation</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 00:28:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>18,675</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27597569</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceandShadow/pseuds/AceandShadow</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Skivay has wanted nothing more than the chance to prove herself to her hero, Lord Saladin, and she snaps at his call for her to run a simple scouting mission for him in the Plaguelands</p><p>When she gets there, the mission is anything but simple when they discover that SIVA has a dark secret that it intends to enact on a least suspecting Guardian, and Skivay gets caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, forcing Saladin to face his worst nightmare once again, only with much more on the line than ever before</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Araeya/Kallori (mentioned), Skivay/Tyrell (mentioned)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Hell and Fire [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1587838</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Intent</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Any speech within &lt;&lt; &gt;&gt; denotes it being spoken in another language and has been translated for reading purposes. In this instance, the language is Eliksni</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>SIVA crawled the walls of the Replication Chamber like an army of parasites, inspecting every inch of its prisoners – Araeya pinned up against the walls, her arms and legs wrapped in SIVA as she struggled against the force of the mind controlling them, grunting as they tightened, squeezing the life out of her. Kallori floored, the nanites holding her down as she desperately tried to sit up. She needed to see what was going to happen as Saladin walked free of SIVA towards the Titan who stood before him.</p><p>“This is all your fault, Saladin! This would never have happened if you had just done your job in the first place, you selfish bastard!” Saladin could hear Kallori’s accusations echoing behind him, but he had to block them out, for what he was about to do was hard enough without the Warlock’s input. “You knew this was a risk and you took it anyway, just like you did the last time!”</p><p>He closed his eyes, tuning into the buzzing of the SIVA nanites surrounding him instead of Kallori’s anger stabbing him in the back, hearing his heart pounding among them as if to provide them with a beat of attack. Breathing deeply, he knew what must be done to put an end to their suffering.</p><p>“Lord Saladin, I don’t have eyes in the Replication Chamber anymore…”</p><p>“It’s okay, Shiro. It’s probably better that you don’t.”</p><p>“Sir?”</p><p>Araeya looked across to Saladin as he walked forward, slowly swinging his Iron Axe. “Do something! She’s going to kill us!” she shouted, straining beneath the force of SIVA surrounding her. She looked down at Twink, Spark and Cynder – their Ghosts – as they sat amongst a swarm of SIVA nanites, encasing them. She knew that it would stop after they were dead, so she could say goodbye to the Ghosts rezzing them following the disaster.</p><p>She could call it a disaster. It went wrong from the very start and it could become a catastrophe if something wasn’t done about it, soon.</p><p>Saladin looked between Araeya and Kallori as they struggled against the nanites. “I <em>am </em>doing something.” He gripped his axe with both hands and began to charge down the chamber.”</p><p>“What are you doing?!”</p><p>He looked into the piercing red eyes of the Titan he sought as she stared at him with enough rage to shake the core of the Plaguelands to tatters. He felt her inner conscience, screaming in fear of what was happening, smashing against the barrier that kept her prisoner to SIVA in her own head. He knew what she was thinking, and she knew what had to be done.</p><p>“Finishing what I should have finished decades ago…”</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>Two Days Earlier…</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>Lord Saladin rarely visited the Tower. He would come to host the monthly Iron Banner tournaments, but since Zavala had enough on his plate, and he and Shaxx rarely saw eye-to-eye, he saw no need to return any more than that.</p><p>Today was different, however, for Saladin, with Shiro-4’s help, was looking to call in an old favour to a Titan that he had grown fond of after meeting her, thanks to Araeya during the Devils’ uprising when they uncovered SIVA. Normally, he wouldn’t be so formal as to request a discussion in-person, but he felt that the need was great enough to warrant an immediate response and a face-to-face meet was quicker than relying on any other form of communication.</p><p>Not to his surprise, when he arrived at the Tower, Saladin received mixed reactions – some Guardians were confused by his presence, some were excited, and some were indeed worried. He had to ignore their eager questions as he trundled through the courtyard. He had business that needed seeing to much more vital than a few keen Guardians ready to prove themselves – Iron Banner wasn’t for another 3 weeks.</p><p>Saladin scanned the crowds of Guardians and KinderGuardians alike as they looked to him. He was searching for Skivajas “Skivay,” whom he thought wouldn’t be too difficult to pick out from a crowd, but as it happened, most Guardians were changing over their shifts and finishing up loadout changes for their next mission or activity and he had gotten himself caught in the thick of it.</p><p>
  <em>Perhaps it would have been quicker to send letters on pigeons. But then, would Saint approve?</em>
</p><p>He sighed, exasperated. He had never seen so many Guardians in one place before. Back in the days of the Risen, even at its peak, there were still never this many in existence, let alone in one place. How he wished he could argue that times were simpler back then, but judging by what was on the horizon, it was on par and fast surpassing his experience.</p><p>Saladin had every intention to find who he was looking for and get out, so he began walking with purpose to make his pitch, explaining the favour and returning to the Iron Temple with her to continue the matter at hand. What he didn’t anticipate was that he would actually bump <em>into</em> to person he sought.</p><p>It caught him off guard and she gasped at the sight of the Iron Lord as he removed his helmet, shaking his head as it became exposed to the daylight.</p><p>Both stared at one another for what felt like hours, flustered by the surprise.</p><p>“Oh, good grief I’m so- Lord Saladin?” Skivay said, tilting her head with curiosity. “Iron Banner isn’t yet, is it? Do you normally come to the Bazaar? Is there something wrong? Ikora hasn’t mentioned anything about a meeting with the Iron Lords…”</p><p>Embarrassed, Saladin looked away and cleared his throat, repositioning and reminding himself of what he was there for. She was swift with her questions and it threw him for a second. “Skivay, it’s nice to see you again.”</p><p>Skivay laughed. “You only saw me last week for your tournament!”</p><p>Still flustered, Saladin tried to compose himself. “I, uh… I meant with regards to our last meet that didn’t include a tournament.” He allowed himself a small, low chuckle.</p><p>“Oh! You mean back during the days of Aksis! Oh, goodness, it has been a while…”</p><p>“Yes, and I’m glad to see you have improved greatly since then.” Skivay averted her eyes so that Saladin couldn’t see her blush. Saint-14 was her mentor and idol, but Saladin was secretly her hero. “I’m here to call in a solid you owe me.”</p><p>“I owe you something? Oh! You should have said something! I can’t have that hanging around!” Skivay panicked. She hated the thought of being waited on.</p><p>“No, no. I wanted to wait for the right time, and I believe this is it.” He paused and stood up straight. “I need your scouting assistance in the Plaguelands once more. Zavala tells me that you have been doing a fine job in the Tangled Shore and that fills me with every confidence that you will be able to return to the Iron Temple with me. Shiro has been keeping an eye on you.”</p><p>Skivay couldn’t help it. Her smile beamed from ear to ear with her eyes alight with pride. She couldn’t speak for trying to find the words and she stood before the Iron Lord like a lemon, swaying side to side with a smile brighter than light. She couldn’t believe that Saladin – her hero – had been keeping an eye on her and talking about her with the Commander and he was impressed with her work since the SIVA Crisis. She felt as though she had accomplished almost everything she’d set out to do.</p><p>“Well?” Saladin prompted. “Will you come for the assist – get that favour off your back?”</p><p>Skivay nodded her head vigorously in lieu of a word that had a better emphasis than screaming ‘yes!’ as though Tyrell had finally proposed. There was a time and a place for that and stood before Lord Saladin was neither.</p><p>Saladin smiled. He didn’t do that too often, these days.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Unsolicited Plans</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Saladin takes Skivay back to the Iron Temple where he and Shiro-4 discuss their plans with her. Unsurprisingly, they don't tell her everything and she knows immediately that there was something much larger at play</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The flight back to the Iron Temple was long and awkward. Saladin wasn’t one for in-flight conversations and entertainment and Skivay couldn’t think of anything to say.</p>
<p>It was Shiro-4 who broke the silence in the end with a question – or two – to Saladin.</p>
<p>“Lord Saladin,” he began. “Your ETA?”</p>
<p>“About 5 minutes, Shiro,” Saladin answered bluntly.</p>
<p>“And Saladin?”</p>
<p>“Yes, Shiro?”</p>
<p>There was a break in the conversation as Shiro tried his best to work out the best way to pose his question. “Um…”</p>
<p>“Shiro…?</p>
<p>“Your wolves, Saladin… and your garden patch behind the Temple… well, I shouldn’t need to take them out, anymore, today…”</p>
<p>Saladin sighed. “Just… Deal with it as best you can…”</p>
<p>Skivay stifled her laugh. She had Cynder, her Ghost, take control of her ship while she had both hands over her mouth and tensing her body trying not to burst. She wanted to show respect to Saladin, and she figured that laughing at his wolves’…mishaps was not the best way to go about it.</p>
<p>She had forgotten what the Iron Temple looked like up close. She would often pause after respawning when she played Crucible in Vostok to look over at the gates and reminisce. But being back on the other side of those gates felt so different. She loved it here.</p>
<p>“Follow me. Shiro is out back dealing with a mess. He shouldn’t be long. We will begin by refreshing your memory with the map of the Plaguelands, anything that may be different since you were last here and the marked territories I’ll have you scout.” Saladin turned to see that Skivay was partially distracted by petting one of the Wolves at the foot of the steps to the Temple. He let himself smile a little at the young Titan in her curious mind.</p>
<p>She caught him looking at her and she shot up the stairs in fear of being waited on again. She chuckled on reaching Saladin.</p>
<p>“I like your wolves,” she smiled.</p>
<p>Skivay’s demeanour resembled that of a fangirl meeting her favourite singer – awkward, happy and excitable. Usually, Saladin wouldn’t tolerate that kind of behaviour for a Titan. He would want them to be strong and foregoing – the walls that don’t break. But he enjoyed having her around. Her innocence was a breath of fresh air and he didn’t worry about her tasks weighing her down.</p>
<p>On entering the Temple, Saladin lit the fire pit in the middle and the surrounding statues glowed lowly in the dim light. Skivay was at a loss for words when she saw these for the first time all those years ago, cold, yet historical. That feeling never dissipated.</p>
<p>On a small table to the right of the fire, Saladin unfolded an old map of the Plaguelands, fresh with new markers and point of interest. He beckoned Skivay to study the map with him.</p>
<p>“You will recognise most of these lands from your last visit, I’m sure,” he said, wasting no time in getting down to business. “The only difference is that this region has been blocked off completely, quarantining the whole area – trying to, anyway.” He pointed to the section of the map that used to house the entrance to the Replication Complex at Site 6. Skivay was not surprised by its absence from the patrol region.</p>
<p>“It’s probably for the best, after all,” Shiro added, closing the Temple door behind him, brushing his hands, his face half scrunched in disgust.</p>
<p>“I need to access this region, Shiro. It is important for future reference,” Saladin asserted, turning to stare at the Exo as he grabbed the patrol plans from the bookshelf next to a torch.</p>
<p>Skivay remembered the last time she was on Felwinter Peak – how it crawled with jumpships flying in, Guardians wandering the steps of the Iron Temple and the wolves howling with excitement. It felt barren in comparison to back then. Empty. Lonesome.</p>
<p>“Lord Saladin, I have tried my best to remind you of what happened the first time you wanted access without sparking any unwanted memories, but sometimes, you leave me no choice.”</p>
<p>Saladin grunted in defeat. Shiro was right – he shouldn’t need to access the Chamber, especially after all that transpired the last couple of times. He just couldn’t shift his curiosity. Felwinter had a point, but Felwinter was also their downfall, in the end. He had a target on his back the size of the planet.</p>
<p>“Anyway,” he continued, returning to the map. “You will be needed around the Lord’s Watch area, to begin, then moving onto Bunker Triglov and finishing at the Archon’s Keep.”</p>
<p>“What is it that I will be doing?” Skivay asked, noting down the desired regions.</p>
<p>“Everything that you’re looking for is in the plans that Shiro has there. The plans explain it better than I, but I trust you will keep this between us, for now?”</p>
<p>This made Skivay nervous. She wasn’t good at keeping secrets – especially not from her friends. It also made her question what Saladin really wanted her for. He was too honourable for something shady. <em>Wasn’t he?</em></p>
<p>“I don’t understand…”</p>
<p>Shiro pulled Saladin aside and turned their backs on her, lowering their voices.</p>
<p>“You sure we timed this right? She’s not ready…” he stated, a tone of nervousness in his voice.</p>
<p>Saladin sighed. “If we wait any longer, I doubt there will be anything we can do. I just can’t afford a worldwide panic if what we are seeing is true. I need a scout of her skill level to confirm it for us – a Guardian whom we can recover if it goes a tad wrong.”</p>
<p>“It’s just… The risk, Sal. You saw what it did to the other Iron Lords. We can’t afford that again.”</p>
<p>“We’ll be fine, Shiro. At the first sign of trouble, we’ll pull her out and call it in.”</p>
<p>Shiro sank, half-defeated, and they turned back to Skivay who was patiently awaiting a response. A worried look had grown over her face.</p>
<p>“Take a minute to read the plans and we’ll answer any questions you have as best we can. We’ll ship you out to the Plaguelands at first light. We’ll be with you every step of the way… just… from here, instead…” Shiro shuffled, attempting to reassure the Titan.</p>
<p>Skivay clutched the rolled plans in her hands and looked between Cynder and Saladin, her face still slanted with uncertainty. In the end, she sighed and walked out the Temple to sit on the steps in the snow and ponder her task.</p>
<p>Her eyes had barely feasted on the plans before she recognised one word that she hadn’t heard for years – SIVA – and she knew immediately what they wanted from her and why they thought it so risky.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Rupture</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Fallen aren't that much of an issue, but when they start gathering in groups at odd times of the day on a regular basis, it needs checking out, and Skivay appears to have taken a liking to the SIVA clusters...</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Saladin stayed up all night and Shiro was awake long before Skivay had made her way back up to the Temple. She was surprised to see them so chipper for living in the mountains, cold and snowy, and before light.</p><p>“You all set to go? Clear on everything?” Shiro questioned as he leant against the doorframe.</p><p>Saladin knelt by the fire and didn’t stir as she walked toward him. She had ignored Shiro’s questions and looked down at Saladin, waiting for him to rise to her.</p><p>As he did, she looked clearly into his eyes so that he could connect to what she was about to say.</p><p>“I know why you want me to do this. You want me to find a SIVA remnant left unchecked.” She paused and took a deep breath. “You’re afraid it’s happening again, aren’t you?” Skivay rarely felt the need to be deep with someone of stature – especially an Iron Lord like Saladin. But she could feel that there was something deeper involved than just scouting for information.</p><p>Usually it was Araeya that did the deep digging in people.</p><p>The pain in Saladin’s eyes was clear to Skivay. She could see that, beneath all his Titan armour, his Iron stature, his barrier… he knew that the SIVA Crisis was a mistake that he could have stopped, but he was too stubborn to admit that he was wrong. The Iron Lords died for no reason and it only haunted him <em>every single day of his unnatural life. </em></p><p>Skivay was right, however. Saladin was afraid that it was happening again – that dealing with SIVA the last time wasn’t enough. That dealing with the Devils was a step too short of a final solution. But he would never admit it. He was in too deep to admit something like that.</p><p>He sighed. “I just need you to scout these areas and confirm for us what the situation seems. We’ll decide what to do after that.”</p><p>“Okay, but why me and why now? Surely you have been down there yourselves before?”</p><p>Saladin looked to Shiro for assistance. “We have been down a few times, but the problem is that the Temple cannot be left unguarded and we need at least one person to man the eyes and ears we have planted in the patrol zones. I am usually the one that does that, but Saladin stirs up too much trouble with the Fallen and the Hive and we can’t afford that.”</p><p>“What makes you think I will be any different?”</p><p>“If you keep your head down, like I trust you do during your normal scouting missions, then you won’t be noticed. They’ll be looking for people like me.” Saladin moved to drop both his hands on Skivay’s shoulders and gripped them tightly. “You’ll be fine. You are an Iron Lady and we will have your back from start to finish, whatever happens.”</p><p>While Saladin didn’t smile, Skivay did. She felt her inner fangirl squeezing her way back out as her hero held her and called her ‘an Iron Lady.’ She welled with pride as Shiro beckoned her to the landing zone to board her ship.</p><p>En route to the Lord’s Watch landing zone, Shiro filled Skivay in on some of the changes to the region.</p><p>“When you were last here, the Fallen and the Hive patrolled the region and regularly got into each other’s crosshairs. Since then, the Hive appeared to have slowly vacated the area, having seemingly lost interest. The Fallen are still present, which never surprised me. Those greedy bastards will stick around until they go extinct if it means they can scrounge a tiny piece of remnant SIVA.”</p><p>“So, I’m just to watch the area for any suspicious activity or SIVA remnants, is that right?”</p><p>Shiro nodded, forgetting that Skivay couldn’t see that. “That’s right. We’ll move you across to the next patrol area when we see sufficient reason that the area is completely dormant and accounted for.”</p><p>“Don’t forget to check any dormant SIVA clusters you encounter for any evidence of tampering,” Saladin added, making sure that no stone was unturned during this mission.</p><p>Skivay perched on top of an old radio tower and she and Cynder settled in for a long day, studying the map and the Fallen movements around her. For an hour or so, nothing seemed to move out of the ordinary and none of the Fallen seemed to be acting in any way suspicious.</p><p>She started moving around the area, marking all the known SIVA clusters. She called it in that all marks were clear of any tampering or activity and crouched next to a dormant SIVA cluster. She had never seen SIVA this close when it wasn’t attacking and she was unusually drawn to it – as though it was calling her, but <em>only </em>her.</p><p>She started to notice a small group of Dregs and Vandals grouping up together around the pass to Bunker Triglov.</p><p>“Shiro? Are you seeing a Fallen group around the east pass?”</p><p>Scattering away at the keys to his terminal, Shiro hacked the motion sensors and what was left of the security cameras around Skivay’s position. He looked to Saladin for input.</p><p>“That does seem an awfully large group for their typical patrol…” he said as Saladin leaned into the monitor.</p><p>“I’ve seen this group before…” he added, almost worried. He put his hand under his chin and pinched it, trying to recall when he had seen a similar group form. “I’m sure they were somewhere else.”</p><p>Shiro got to tapping away at the keyboard next to him, rooting through old footage to see if he could spot something similar to what Skivay and Saladin were describing. It took him a while and Skivay was still crouched by a SIVA cluster admiring it. She had become entranced by it when Shiro popped open the comm unit again with what he had found.</p><p>“I’ve found multiple instances where groups like this had formed and each of them were in the three places we have marked for scouting. There were two groups like this just yesterday; one on the east pass as we see today, the other by Archon’s Keep. Each time, they are there a matter of 30 minutes at most and then they dissipate.”</p><p>Saladin had begun pacing around the main hall of the Temple, his hand still resting on his chin. “How have we missed this?” he wondered. Pausing abruptly, he pointed at Shiro in a lightbulb moment. “Can you find when the grouping in these areas first began?”</p><p>Skivay found herself becoming more and more interested in the SIVA cluster, the longer she spent next to it, and Cynder could tell.</p><p>“Ms Skivay? A view from the top of that building would get us a better view of the east pass, perhaps?” He prompted. This brought Skivay round and she stood up to look at Cynder.</p><p>“I worry that’ll be a tad too close for comfort – maybe they’ll spot us?”</p><p>Cynder hadn’t thought of that – he just wanted Skivay to stop paying attention to the cluster. He would report what had happened to the Iron Lord on return to the Temple, so as not to worry Skivay.</p><p>“Skivay, can you check your map for coordinates to the nearest cluster in the centre of Bunker Triglov?” Shiro asked, believing he had found something.</p><p>“Dead centre,” she responded. “Right by the command spire.”</p><p>“Saladin, you might want to look at this…” Shiro beckoned the Iron Lord to examine the monitor. “They gathered around this area at Archon’s Keep round about 04:30am local and stood together for a good 12 minutes, but if you look carefully at 04:44am local, there’s a small, contained rupture in the side of the wall slightly out of view, an energy spike and then utter silence. It’s as though they were waiting for something to happen and it didn’t…”</p><p>Saladin grumbled as he pondered this new evidence. “I don’t understand how this had slipped us…” He returned to pacing for a moment, and just as Skivay had climbed to the top of the building for a better look, another rupture could be seen from the distance and Shiro marked the energy spike – it was directly over the SIVA cluster at the command spire at Bunker Triglov.</p><p>All three Guardians waited in silence to see what the group of Fallen do. They waited exactly 6 minutes, just as with the previous groups and then they scattered, almost disappointed. One Dreg looked sad.</p><p>“Skivay, check your map!” Saladin demanded. Exactly what he had thought had happened – the Fallen were tampering with the SIVA clusters in the Plaguelands. The energy signatures from the SIVA around it spiked at the explosion and then dipped to almost non-existent on her map, but they were slowly climbing back up to dormant levels.</p><p>“What are they doing, exactly?” she asked. “I haven’t seen a cluster that looks to have been…exploded in any way.”</p><p>“Shiro, can you find a transcript of what was said at any of the points that might hint as to what they are planning?” Saladin was taking control of the situation as he was becoming angry by what had slipped under his vigilance.</p><p>“I can, but it’ll take a while to work with.”</p><p>“In the meantime; Skivay, see if you can get hold of a Dreg or something.”</p><p>“Saladin?” Skivay was made nervous by the tone in Saladin’s voice.</p><p>“I know it’s a little unorthodox for a scout, but this is precisely why I needed someone to help us – for events like this. It’s been too peaceful here for too long…”</p><p>Skivay looked to Cynder who could have shrugged his shoulders if he could, but she knew exactly which Dreg to look for, and luckily for her, the group hadn’t dispersed far enough.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Inaudible</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Skivay breaks her rules as a scout and interrogates a Dreg for answers, but sees that he is too consumed by emotions. Luckily, Shiro could fill in the gaps only to find something they wished wasn't true</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Skivay stalked the Dreg for a good hour until he had wandered far enough away from the other Fallen for her to get to him and she wasted no time in jumping him and pinning him to a wall, squeezing his throat and lifting his feet off the ground.</p><p>He didn’t even have time to blink, let alone react.</p><p>“What were you and your group doing just then?” Skivay demanded, trying to sound intimidating.</p><p>The Dreg did not know English and so Skivay had to rely on Cynder being able to translate it to and fro properly. He looked down at Skivay’s hand around his neck, her shotgun half-poised to strike and he let go of her wrist and stopped struggling.</p><p>&lt;&lt;It does not matter now. I have lost too much in this escapade.&gt;&gt;</p><p>Skivay took a moment and looked into the Dreg’s eyes – he looked truly sorrowful. She loosened her grip on his neck and lowered him to the ground, still holding him because she couldn’t afford to let him go just yet.</p><p>“’Lost too much’? I don’t understand…”</p><p>The Dreg sighed. &lt;&lt;My brothers were by the SIVA. They were so sure that it would work, but it backfired, and they die. I have no family left…&gt;&gt;</p><p>Skivay wasn’t getting the answers she needed, and it was becoming frustrating, but she didn’t want to lose her temper on the Dreg in case she didn’t get anything at all. “What were your brothers doing?”</p><p>&lt;&lt;We tried to get SIVA to like us. We thought we could help it.&gt;&gt; The Dreg had begun snivelling as he thought about the pain that SIVA had brought to his doorstep.</p><p>“How can you help it?” The longer that Skivay questioned the Dreg, the worse his emotions got, and she had become confused by the aim of the Fallen with SIVA.</p><p>&lt;&lt;It does not matter. The SIVA does not like us. It has abandoned us just like the Great Machine. You Guardians have finally taken everything from us…&gt;&gt;</p><p>This hurt Skivay like a stab in the back. “Please. What were you trying to accomplish? Why wait for so long in groups for only a rupture to hurt you?”</p><p>&lt;&lt;We wait for the SIVA to come to us. Then we begin again. But we not begin again because the SIVA won’t forgive us. The SIVA hurt us more. The SIVA hurt us all…&gt;&gt;</p><p>By this point, the Dreg had almost started crying and he had started to bat at Skivay’s hand to get her off him. In pain, she let him go and he collapsed in a heap in the snow, Skivay and Cynder looking at him with pity. They didn’t get the exact answers they needed, but it was something more than nothing – it was a start – and perhaps with the right clues, they could conjure something vital from their current enigma.</p><p>“Skivay, we need you at the Iron Temple. We have a legible transcript and we need to compare notes,” Shiro announced over the comm unit. “Did you get some answers from the Fallen?”</p><p>“Nothing concrete. Just something about wanting to help SIVA…”</p><p>The pause on the line as Shiro and Saladin took in the information that Skivay had just given was thick with tension and it made Skivay nervous.</p><p>“Just get to the Temple as quickly as you can,” Saladin finally added, bluntly.</p><p>While they waited for Skivay to make haste, Shiro and Saladin discussed their current situation. Neither of them were happy it was allowed to go unnoticed for as long as it had, but Shiro was the most level-headed, which was unusual for Saladin.</p><p>“What would the Iron Lords say if they saw this now?” Saladin said, solemn and pacing.</p><p>Shiro closed his eyes, bowed his head and took a deep breath. He looked up from the monitor, half-clutching the top of the screen. “They would look for a better way forward – something to improve on the last mistake.”</p><p>Saladin shook his head. “Mistakes like these are costly, Shiro. If we cannot find a solution to something that should have been dealt with decades ago, then we risk another SIVA crisis. I-” he stopped abruptly realising that what we wanted to say sounded weak and, as an Iron Lord, he couldn’t allow himself to be in such a way.</p><p>Shiro looked at him as he turned away. “Say it, Saladin – you don’t think you could stand another SIVA crisis because <em>it</em> still stands, and the Iron Lords don’t. It’s about accepting defeat and you don’t want to. I get it.”</p><p>“No, Shiro. I don’t think you do.” Saladin didn’t mean to come across quite so abrasive, but he was in no mood for thinking twice. He looked over to Shiro and, no matter how hard he tried, Shiro couldn’t quite hide his hurt.</p><p>“You don’t? I watched my best friend lose a bet over a Fallen mercenary and get tied down to Vanguard duties, never to walk the road with us again. That same friend died at the hand of that mercenary, as did my boy Lush and our teammate Nian. I then proceeded to see that mercenary nearly tear my other friend apart from the inside until he got tied to the Vanguard. He is now also dead. I’m alone. So, yes, Sal, I do get it – I understand the frustration of letting the same thing defeat you time and time again, slowly taking everything away from you, no matter what you do to put it down. SIVA is no different. This is just another steppingstone in putting it away for good and we have an extra pair of hands this time.”</p><p>Saladin was stumped. Shiro’s words had never been truer steel as they tore into him, opening him up and exposing his very weakness – defeat. He sighed. His shoulders drooped and his cloak settled on the dusty floor as he stopped pacing the Temple hall. “Andal? And all this was… Taniks?”</p><p>Shiro nodded. “Even Taniks got augmented with SIVA, so you can imagine my further frustration…”</p><p>Saladin’s eyes dimmed. He had spent so long worrying about his own failures that he hadn’t considered anyone else. “I wish Efrideet were here…”</p><p>Skivay walked through the Temple doors and was immediately greeted with an atmosphere thick with tension and despair. She paused after shutting them and looked between Shiro and Saladin.</p><p>It wasn’t until Shiro had noticed the Awoken Titan stood in the doorway that he snapped back into action and gathered the transcript together to compare notes. Skivay took her helmet off and placed it on the table next to Saladin’s, but she noticed he was unusually tense by this.</p><p>“Skivay! Glad you’re back in one piece. We gathered a transcript of a group that stood idle before a rupture not too long ago by Archon’s Keep and we’re hoping that you can see if it resembles anything that you squeezed out of that Dreg.”</p><p>Skivay looked at Cynder nervously. “That Dreg was a little more than depressed…”</p><p>Saladin looked at her. “Don’t go soft on me, now,” he commanded as Shiro laid out the transcript next to the monitor.</p><p>“This is a little rough around the edges as I had to manually translate most of it, but hopefully it’ll make sense…”</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>RECORD: 4673W958$PLAG-0.378</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>IDENTITIES: Fallen Vandal [0.1], Fallen Vandal, [0.2], Fallen Dreg [0.3], Fallen Dreg [0.4], Fallen Marauder [0.5], Fallen Captain [unspeaking]</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>LOCATION: Archon’s Keep Bypass</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>DATE/TIME: 04/12/18, 05:14am GMT+3</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>FILE TYPE: Transcript – audio unavailable</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>[0.3]: “We have been standing here for longer than expected. What is taking them so long?”</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>[0.5]: “Be patient [INAUDIBLE]. This is a delicate mission – we must take every precaution.”</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>[0.3]: “But we are just exfiltration-”</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>[0.5]: “And that is the most important job. You will do as instructed or there will be consequences.”</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>[0.1]: “He is right. There is something not right about this.”</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>[0.4]: “My brother is in there. This has to go right.”</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>[EXPLOSION]</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>[0.2]: “It is over. [INAUDIBLE], we must close the operation at Archon’s Keep. The SIVA will not respond to us from there.”</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>[0.4]: “It cannot be over yet. They must return. We need the SIVA as much as the SIVA needs us.”</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>[0.2]: “SIVA will not respond to our devices. We must find another way, or we risk falling behind the race for the Great Machine.”</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>[0.1]: “Perhaps reanimating the SIVA is the wrong way…”</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>[0.5]: “We have no other way. [INAUDIBLE] decides on our methods and he will choose wisely. For now, we must leave in case of attack.”</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>[0.4]: “My brother…”</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>[0.3] “We do not have time to go in for him.”</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>[0.5] “On the order of [INAUDIBLE], the time is 05:19am local – we must leave.”</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>TRANSCRIPT ENDS</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>Skivay took a moment to read over the sorrowful words of a single Dreg and compare them to those she heard only hours prior.</p><p>“Anything stand out to you?” Shiro prompted. “The only thing that we have been able to establish is that the Fallen are attempting to reanimate SIVA, which alone is a serious issue…”</p><p>“[0.4] replicates that of the Dreg I interrogated earlier – he was vastly depressed over the loss of his family in the various ruptures across the map. Each SIVA cluster I came across in Lord’s Watch had only been mildly tampered with. Nothing like a rupture.”</p><p>Shiro placed his hand under his chin, stroking his joints on his face. “So, the Fallen are trying to reanimate SIVA, but so far, every event has ended in a rupture of the cluster and they deem it a failure…”</p><p>This got Saladin thinking. “That means we’ve been looking at this the wrong way – the Fallen aren’t <em>causing</em> the ruptures. The ruptures are a retaliation of some sort.”</p><p>“That Vandal held out a small device when he said they weren’t working and it looks to be made of SIVA, itself.” Skivay was slowly finding her feet in the current situation.</p><p>“Could it be the parts of the clusters in Lord’s Watch?” Saladin asked, which sparked Shiro’s lightbulb.</p><p>“They’re trying to reanimate SIVA…with SIVA, but it’s not working – it’s killing them – and they’re claiming it’s their route in the race for the Traveler. They want what the Devils had all those years ago and SIVA is rejecting them – quite a contrast to last time…” Shiro had hit the nail on the head, but Saladin wasn’t finished. He pondered over to the monitor and slammed both his hands on the table and hung his head.</p><p>“Lord Saladin?” Skivay prompted, hoping he wasn’t about to rage.</p><p>He grumbled. “SIVA only rejects reanimation if it has already been served another directive.” He looked between the Exo and the Awoken as they stared back, slightly gone-out. “The Fallen aren’t the problem, here. SIVA itself is the problem…”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Blinded Minds</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Saladin makes the wrong call in his new plan of action and Shiro learns that men who want to be blind won't see the truth, but at what cost?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Felwinter Peak was silent for the first time in years and the Iron Temple sat almost frozen in time as Skivay, Saladin and Shiro all came to terms with the fact that SIVA had given itself a new directive that was retaliating against the Fallen reanimation.</p><p>They didn’t understand how it had slipped undetected – Shiro did daily scans on all SIVA clusters to see if anything was amiss. Did he miss something? How could he have?</p><p>“How do we figure out what the new directive is?” Skivay asked, breaking the silence.</p><p>Saladin looked at her with a newfound fire in his eyes. “We get in close,” he announced.</p><p>“How close are we talking?”</p><p>“We find the most active cluster and we dig it up.”</p><p>Shiro shot a glare at the Iron Lord, but Saladin remained unmoved. “Lord Saladin, how could you propose such an idea? We have just seen the reaction SIVA has to the Fallen when they try. We can’t afford that – especially not as Guardians.”</p><p>Saladin shook his head. “I will take Skivay out to a site, personally. We will be vigilant.”</p><p>Skivay struggled to contain herself in this situation. No matter how serious the matter may be, she was still so excited about Saladin personally taking her out on a patrol. Her inner fangirl was getting hard to control.</p><p>Shiro slammed the monitor down, making Skivay jump out of her thoughts, and looked at the ground. “Being ‘vigilant’ won’t be enough and you know that. We’ve been ‘vigilant’ for years and, yet this has gone unnoticed. We don’t know how powerful SIVA has gotten if it can present itself a new directive and I’m not prepared to see it when you go out digging it up.”</p><p>“Do you have another suggestion?” Saladin asked, knowing that Shiro wouldn’t be able to respond with an answer strong enough to sway his decision.</p><p>“We wait. If we provoke it, who’s to say what we’ll start.”</p><p>“And <em>if </em>we wait, who’s to say it won’t lose the patience it’s grown over these years and sprout wings, threatening not just this area?”</p><p>Shiro was stumped. The Iron Lord had made up his mind and, like a mountain, it was immoveable, unshakeable. He sighed in defeat, but he had only lost to a stubborn Iron Lord whose judgement was too clouded. Deep down, he knew that he was right. He just had to wait for Saladin to come to his senses on his own, even if it was too late.</p><p>Saladin turned to Skivay and placed his hand on her shoulder, looking directly into her eyes, keen with the challenge. “We ride out in an hour. First, I must tend to my wolves.” With that, Saladin exited the Iron Temple and left Skivay with a very distressed Shiro. She turned to look at the Hunter hunched over the table, his head hanging low.</p><p>“You shouldn’t worry so much, Shiro. I don’t doubt that we have got this under control. Saladin is a very capable man-”</p><p>Trying not to snap, Shiro interrupted. “He is anything <em>but</em> capable when it comes to SIVA. He lost too much to first time this happened, and he’s been chasing his tail ever since. After the second incident when the Devils got smart, I could see him fall back into that very same mindset of clouded judgement. The peak was when your friend had to tear apart the SIVA-fied remains of his own friends. The way you saw him just now? He’s only so far from that same peak…”</p><p>Skivay looked over her shoulder to the Iron doors where Saladin had just left, and she pondered the thought that this Titan still hurt from something that happened all those decades ago. It was though a small rope had been wrapped around his hand – a connection to his Iron Lords – and, when SIVA killed them, the rope tightened, but he still couldn’t let go. That same pain kept Saladin from seeing the main problem – that it won’t matter how many Guardians with an ill-fated task you send out, SIVA will always be present.</p><p>She sighed. “What do we do?”</p><p>“We do what the Iron Lord says we do. If it goes wrong, we tell him ‘I told you so’, and think of another plan – perhaps one less clouded.” Shiro paused before standing himself up and forcing a little smile in his own Exo way. “You should get to the landing pad ready to fly out to Lord’s Watch. That’s your first point of call.”</p><p>Her eyes shone a dull red for a split second, making Shiro look again, but he dismissed it as his mind just being in a stressful situation.</p><p>Skivay had perched herself on a small rooftop on the border of Lord’s Watch, still awaiting Saladin. Cynder materialised before her.</p><p>“You do not seem so chipper, Ms Skivay,” he pointed out. She shook her head.</p><p>“Just worried about Lord Saladin, that’s all.”</p><p>Cynder twirled in the air as he examined his Guardian. “You’re worried about something else, aren’t you?”</p><p>Skivay looked at him and narrowed her eyes. They shone a dull red for a split second, but it was enough for Cynder to notice something wasn’t right. “Nope. Just looking out for Saladin,” she replied, almost reanimated.</p><p>“Skivay, are you there?” Cynder was about to say something until Saladin checked in on the comms. “I have an idea on the best SIVA cluster to examine, but we will need to walk there. I am coming down to you now.”</p><p>Skivay stood up and jumped down off the roof just in time for Saladin to transmat next to her and begin their walk to Bunker Triglov.</p><p>Each time they passed a SIVA cluster on their walk, both Saladin and Skivay felt some internal dread inside them, but they were both for different reasons. Saladin shivered at the thought that he was idly walking by that what killed his fireteam and used their bodies as weapons, whereas Skivay was somehow drawn to the warmth of the cluster – she could almost feel it inside of her.</p><p>Subconsciously, Skivay found herself walking closer to each cluster she passed, Saladin unaware of his Titan scout’s deviation.</p><p>It wasn’t until just before they reached the pass to Bunker Triglov did Saladin notice that the other Titan was no longer by his side, but instead crouched by a SIVA cluster, her hand inside of it.</p><p>In shock, Saladin bellowed across the LZ and bolted for Skivay, diving to push her away from the cluster, and they both landed with a hefty thud, Saladin half atop Skivay’s legs as she sat up to see what had happened.</p><p>Breathing heavily, Saladin propped himself up on his elbows to meet the scared gaze of the Awoken. “What do you think you are doing? I said the cluster we needed was in the Triglov region! We can’t just pick the first one we see!”</p><p>Skivay was confused. “I needed to see what kind of tampering had happened on this one…”</p><p>“But you put your hand in it! Why on earth did you think that was a good idea?!”</p><p>“I- I don’t know…” She looked away, embarrassed at what had just happened. Upon looking back at the Iron Lord, her eyes shone a dull red for a split second and Cynder caught it again, but Saladin didn’t notice.</p><p>The two Titans picked themselves up off the floor, brushed the snow from their armour and continued walking towards the Bunker, all the while Cynder was contemplating whether or not he should tell Saladin of what he’s been seeing in Skivay, or if that would make matters worse. With so much at stake, decisions couldn’t be made lightly.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Consume</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Cynder and Shiro know that something is wrong with Skivay, but they need to work out what before they reach the cluster in the Bunker. Saladin is having none of it, until both he and Cynder make the wrong call and Skivay is gone.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The remainder of the walk was in complete silence as Saladin hurried across the Bunker pass and Skivay trailed behind him in embarrassment, but she could feel that something was wrong. She could hear something other than her own thoughts in her head, but every time she tried to focus on it, it would disappear. It quickly became disorientating and she grew weary with each passing moment.</p><p>Saladin took no notice and continued ploughing forward with purpose. They made the Triglov region in no time at all.</p><p>“Shiro, how close to the main cluster?” Saladin asked, breaking the ever-lasting silence.</p><p>“It should be in the watchtower, just by the blast doors. There’s a lot of stairs between you and said cluster…”</p><p>“We’ll be fine, Shiro.” Saladin hoisted his cloak further up his shoulders and beckoned Skivay to follow, but Cynder wasn’t so sure about it.</p><p>“Mr Saladin, I am not so sure that my Guardian can make all those stairs. She is unusually weary…”</p><p>Saladin turned to see Skivay half hunched over, her breathing lethargic. She <em>did</em> look unwell. He growled.</p><p>“I cannot leave her down here. She is my scout – she is needed up there with me…” he turned to inspect behind both his shoulders before letting out one heat-filled exasperated sigh, filling the air around him with his frustration. After a moment’s pause, he grunted and marched towards the other Titan and her Ghost. “I will carry her.”</p><p>He leant down and grabbed Skivay by her waist and hauled her up onto his shoulders, one arm wrapped around her leg and the other holding her steady by gripping her wrist.</p><p>“You don’t have to, Lord Saladin,” Skivay whispered in his ear.</p><p>“I think I do.” He turned and began making immediate headway to the base of the watchtower, twisting this way and that way through the corridors and doorways so as not to injure the Guardian on his shoulders.</p><p>“Saladin, if Skivay is not well, perhaps it’s better to wait until she is. This mission was a risk from the start. If you continue, the risk is doubled and there’s nothing that I can do to stop it.”</p><p>“We will be fine, Shiro. If nothing else, I just need to inspect this cluster and make sure that it is safe to remove when the time is right, but I will not sit idly on my ass anymore while SIVA progresses unchecked. Not again.”</p><p>“Saladin, please reconsider.” Shiro’s tone became increasingly tense as he feared for the Titans’ safety.</p><p>“Shiro, I promise we’ll be fine,” Skivay interjected. They had barely made it halfway up the stairs before she began to hear an increasingly loud ringing in her ears.</p><p>No.</p><p>Not her ears – inside her head; like a thousand bees buzzing around and around, making her head spin. Within the buzzing, she could hear a distorted voice, not too dissimilar from the one she heard only moments before, but this one was stronger, louder and more demanding. She only wished she could make out the words…</p><p>“Ms Skivay, could you remove your helmet? I need to check your vitals,” Cynder asked, trying to keep to the pace of the Iron Lord. Slowly, she slipped her helmet off, but her grip was feeble, and she dropped it and it rolled down the stairs behind them. This was not their concern as the closer they got to the top of the tower, the weaker Skivay became.</p><p>Cynder scanned Skivay as she grew pale and stopped abruptly as her eyes shone red again. This time the red was more than dull – it shone with meaning – and Cynder halted in his tracks as Saladin continued running up the steps.</p><p>He was missing something. Something had happened to her and he didn’t see it.</p><p>
  <em>What was it?</em>
</p><p>“Saladin, Skivay’s Ghost just picked up an anomaly in her vitals. You need come back,” Shiro said, hoping it would be enough to get Saladin to stop.</p><p>“Not now, Shiro. We’re going to take the opportunity while it’s still here.” Saladin was in no mood to take extra precautions.</p><p>Upon reaching the SIVA cluster, he leant Skivay up against the old control panel just in front and he stood next to her while she studied it.</p><p>Inside her head, the voices grew louder and more disturbing, but she still couldn’t hear what they were saying. It was as though they were chanting something…</p><p>She reached for the cluster to dismantle its roots in the floor. The cluster itself had begun reacting to her hands – the closer they got, the more it reverberated, the more it brightened and the louder it sounded.</p><p><em>This </em>got Saladin’s attention.</p><p>“Shiro, are you seeing this?”</p><p>“Yes, sir.”</p><p>“I have never seen SIVA react like this to a Guardian…”</p><p>“I’m still looking over the body telemetry that Skivay’s Ghost sent me. There’s definitely something amiss and I think you should pull her out until we can find out what it is.” Shiro recalled the last time he spoke to the Titan scout and the double-take he had her do. Her eyes…</p><p>“We’re nearly done, here, Shiro.”</p><p>“No. Saladin. I really think you need to come back now.”</p><p>Skivay made contact with the cluster and reached underneath to hook its roots and there wasn’t a single second to pass when the SIVA wrapped around her wrists and yanked her forward, making Saladin jump.</p><p>Skivay never made a sound. She never jumped and her face never changed as SIVA slowly climbed her arm and onto her shoulders and creeped around her neck as she struggled to breathe.</p><p>“Saladin! Do something, please!” cried Shiro over the comm network as he slammed his monitor down and bolted for his ship.</p><p>Saladin didn’t hesitate as he gabbed Skivay and tried to pull SIVA from her arms but touching the infection burnt his hands through his gauntlets. He continued to pull against the SIVA as he watched the light from Skivay’s eyes fade and turn red with anticipation, the corruption consuming her neck and crawling into her ears.</p><p>
  <em>Why isn’t she wearing her helmet? Where did it go?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>~consume enhance replicate~</em>
</p><p>Those words sounded all too familiar to Saladin and he let go of the Titan in shock, staring into her eyes as they glowed the same red as his fireteam on their ill-fated mission all those years ago. His arms fell to his side as he and Skivay stood up, the cluster diminished. Skivay stood with strength and ire.</p><p>But it wasn’t her.</p><p>
  <em>~consume enhance replicate~</em>
</p><p>That wasn’t her voice.</p><p>
  <em>~consume enhance replicate~</em>
</p><p>This wasn’t the same Titan Saladin had brought from The Last City.</p><p>
  <em>~consume enhance replicate~</em>
</p><p>This was the very thing he swore to destroy.</p><p>“Saladin?!”</p><p>
  <em>~consume enhance replicate~</em>
</p><p>“Saladin? Can you hear me?”</p><p>
  <em>~consume enhance replicate~</em>
</p><p>“Saladin… Please… I can’t see…”</p><p>
  <em>~consume enhance replicate~</em>
</p><p>“Saladin… I’m scared…”</p><p>“Lord Saladin! Get out of there!” Shiro’s voice shocked Saladin into action and he bolted down the tower stairs, bumping into Cynder perched in Skivay’s helmet. He wasted no time in thought and grabbed it on his way down, barely making it out the door when Skivay destroyed the base, crumbling the old building to pieces.</p><p>No.</p><p>It wasn’t Skivay. It was SIVA.</p><p>Shiro transmatted in next to Saladin in time to see SIVA take Skivay’s body into the distance.</p><p>“Saladin… Don’t leave me…”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Under Wraps</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Unsurprisingly, Saladin objects to Shiro's plans to bring in backup, and if it wasn't for the dire need of extra pairs of hands and clear heads, Shiro wouldn't have brought in Kallori for her anger would surely only create problems...</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Saladin looked down at Skivay’s helmet in his hands, Cynder quivering inside it. He sighed and Shiro could hear the mixture of emotions coming from his breath and it made him tense.</p><p>“You’re going after her, aren’t you?” Shiro asked, refusing to look at the Iron Lord directly.</p><p>“What do you think, Shiro?” Saladin didn’t even try to hide his angry sarcasm as he turned to summon his ship, handing the helmet and the Ghost to Shiro on his way out.</p><p>Shiro looked down at the Ghost. He and Cynder both knew that they had a big part to play in SIVA’s taking, but there was no way they could tell Saladin that. As it was, he already blamed himself for not listening to the warning signs that presented themselves so clearly before him. They decided that it would be better if he never knew what they were trying to do. But the question to be asked was; what were they going to do <em>now?</em> SIVA had taken Skivay as a host body to learn the ways of the Guardians and they had no idea where it went.</p><p>Cynder’s eye was weak with Light as he looked up at Shiro, hoping the Hunter had an answer. Shiro didn’t return the look – he continued gazing at the horizon.</p><p>“Who was Skivay closest to?” he asked, bluntly.</p><p>“Do you remember Araeya?”</p><p>This got Shiro’s attention. “The Young Wolf of the second SIVA crisis?”</p><p>Cynder nodded. “She and her girlfriend, Kallori, are the Guardians she hangs out with most, along with her boyfriend Tyrell…”</p><p>Shiro was stunned at the concept of the Young Wolf knowing this Titan – Saladin had not told him of this development. In fact, this seemed awfully coincidental. “Then we will bring them out here,” he asserted.</p><p>Cynder shot up out of Skivay’s helmet and looked Shiro dead in the eye. “You want to get <em>more </em>Guardians involved? I thought the whole point of this was to keep it quiet…”</p><p>“Yeah, well, ‘the whole point’ of this just got blown out of the water. We need a new perspective, and it seems like these Guardians are our best chances.”</p><p>“But Saladin-”</p><p>“Saladin doesn’t get to call the shots around here while he’s this clouded. We need a clear head.”</p><p>Araeya and Kallori arrived not two hours after they got the call from Shiro. It was strange for Araeya to be back in the Plaguelands and even stranger to be back working with Saladin. She hadn’t spoken to him properly since Aksis and she actively avoided Iron Banner week because she wasn’t good enough.</p><p>Kallori, on the other hand, was never involved in the initial SIVA Crisis, but she sure as hell was good at Iron Banner. She had, in the past, heard Saladin and Shaxx arguing over her potential – Shaxx still wanting her for Crucible Sherpa runs, but Saladin wanting her by his side.</p><p>Shiro greeted them outside the Temple.</p><p>“It’s been a while, Lady Guardian,” Shiro smiled politely at Araeya as she took off her helmet, greeting her just like old times.</p><p>“Indeed, it has, Shiro,” Araeya smiled back, but promptly stopped as she remembered the last time they spoke, Cayde was still alive. She knew that Shiro knew, but it still didn’t make it an easier realisation. “This is Kallori. Saladin will know who she is.”</p><p>Shiro chuckled. “I already know – Saladin talks about her most days following Iron Banner week. I’ve heard she’s quite the catch.”</p><p>Kallori walked up to Shiro and folded her arms. “This had better be good.” She hated being torn away from the City when she was off duty.</p><p>Shiro cleared his throat. “Ah… Before I begin, where is Tyrell?”</p><p>“He’s out on Mars for a couple of days, helping Ana with something at the Futurescape. He’ll be here soon.” Araeya stopped and looked Shiro carefully in his eyes. “You’ve never met him. What would you need him for?”</p><p>Kallori stopped her. “We all have but one thing in common, don’t we, <em>Shiro?</em>”</p><p>Shiro sighed. “It’s your friend, Skivay…”</p><p>As the realisation settled in, Shiro beckoned them into the Iron Temple, his plans and schematics spread chaotically across the centre table and his monitor harbouring several security camera footages at once. It didn’t take the Awoken long to work out what had happened – especially since Araeya had been here before and knew of the extent of the crisis, even back then.</p><p>Kallori brushed her hand across the table and skimmed over the schematics, recognising only one of them, while Araeya sat on the stone steps apart from the fire.</p><p>“These are the plans for Sepiks,” Kallori stated, studying them as Shiro sighed.</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“What use are these?”</p><p>Shiro took a moment to collect his thoughts as he looked between the Guardians. He needed to approach the subject carefully with them so that they were prepared for when Saladin walked through those doors.</p><p>“I thought that, if I could work out how the Fallen augmented Sepiks, I could link it to Skivay…”</p><p>Araeya slowly sat up, shock emanating from her face.</p><p>“You’re not saying…”</p><p>“Yeah… I’m saying…”</p><p>Kallori marched towards Shiro, her fists clenched in fury, and she pushed her hand against his chest and barged him into a pillar, her face a hair’s breadth away from his and her gaze locked.</p><p>“How dare you,” she whispered, rage bubbling from beneath.</p><p>“It was a collective decision between me and Saladin. We needed someone out here and she was the Vanguard’s best scout – we needed the best!”</p><p>“…and you lost it.”</p><p>“Kallori, let him go.” Araeya didn’t look up from her space on the steps as Twink perched on the end of her knee, looking up to her.</p><p>“Don’t you understand? He <em>let </em>Skivay die!”</p><p>“She isn’t dead!” Shiro fought back. “SIVA needs her. It will learn from her. We have time, but we need to work fast if we’re going to get to her before SIVA is finished with her.”</p><p>“So why do you need Tyrell?”</p><p>Shiro sighed as Kallori walked away, still seething with rage. “To tell him, above else, but he would be a useful asset to have here at the Temple with me…”</p><p>Shiro had barely finished his sentence before the Temple doors swung open and the Iron Titan stood in the shadows of the snow’s glint on the mountain, a wolf by his side. Everything inside came to a standstill and Shiro’s plans and schematics flew wildly in the air with the snowy wind, everyone looking at the Iron Lord, barely blinking.</p><p>Saladin slowly walked down the steps, one foot at a time, carefully examining the unexpected guests that stood around the fire in the middle of the room. He studied the Warlock as she darted to avert his gaze so as not to show her anger. He studied the Hunter as she sat with her head in her hands on the steps in front of him. She had not moved with his arrival, but Twink had noticed his ungrateful stare. Saladin then turned to Shiro and growled.</p><p>“When I saw two extra ships docked outside, I had prayed to the Traveler that they were just here for a visit or they were lost because I had thought that there was no way that my Vanguard Scout would bring <em>more </em>people into this mess. It seems that I was wrong, Shiro…”</p><p>Saladin’s low tone and unusual calmness made Shiro uneasy and he shuffled in his spot, Kallori’s anger turning smug.</p><p>“Lord Saladin, these are Skivay’s closest friends – her significant other en route in a couple of days. We wanted to keep a low profile, but we won’t be able to if this blows beyond our abilities. We need all the help we can get before this turns to another crisis.”</p><p>Saladin looked around the room for a moment, his body still as a statue.</p><p>“No.” He put on his helmet and walked back out the Iron Temple, leaving the Guardians confused.</p><p>“I’ll talk to him,” Araeya said.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Last Time</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Araeya goes to console Saladin to try and convince him that she's there to help and he opens up slightly to the Young Wolf. Shiro spots a pattern that might lead them to Skivay and SIVA which only upsets Saladin further when he realises it was under his nose the entire time</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Outside at the gates to the bridge, Saladin knelt before an empty firepit, his helmet still on and a wolf still by his side. Araeya stood just off the bridge long enough for him to sense that she was there.</p><p>Without moving, he addressed her presence. “You’re bold to come back here after all these years.” His voice was solemn. Empty. Hollow…</p><p>“All these years I have said that if you need help, you know where to find me. Taking down Aksis was a gruelling thing to do, but I did that so we wouldn’t have to worry about it again in the future. You said so, yourself, that SIVA will arise again and here we are. We wouldn’t be having this conversation otherwise.”</p><p>Saladin thought for a moment before standing up. “You don’t understand the extent of this situation, clearly. This isn’t like ‘last time.’”</p><p>“What gives you <em>that </em>idea?”</p><p>“SIVA has taken your friend under its own directive to consume, enhance and replicate that Guardian, and you’re here acting like this is ‘just like last time.’”</p><p>Araeya scoffed. “Saladin, you misread me, <em>just like last time.</em>”</p><p><em>Just like last time, </em>only that <em>this </em>time there is a single life in the core of the problem. God knows what would happen if they failed to get there in time and SIVA succeeded…</p><p>Saladin took off his helmet and sat on the small bench behind him and Araeya moved over to the one opposite, also removing her helmet.</p><p>“You know, Araeya, the last time you were here, these firepits roared with ferocity after your victory. I miss them.”</p><p>“When did they go out?”</p><p>“I put them out. The folly of man is to sit too comfortably on past victories and not strive towards new ones. I believe they will roar again, but I don’t believe they will anytime soon.”</p><p>“You think too little of us,” Araeya said, looking into the eyes of the Iron Lord. “You need to let go of this assumption that you have to protect everything yourself. We are <em>Guardians</em>, Saladin. It’s our job to get all up in the face of adversity and lay down our – albeit unnatural – lives for others to be free – that goes for other Guardians, too. Just let us help you.”</p><p>Saladin sat back on the bench and let out an exasperated sigh. A small smile inched along his face as he looked at Araeya. “You don’t change much over the years, do you?”</p><p>Araeya laughed. “Not a lot to change <em>for, </em>sir.”</p><p>“That Warlock of yours; she looks good on you.”</p><p>Araeya stared wide-eyed at the Iron Lord. She didn’t know he knew about the two of them.</p><p>“I see that stare,” Saladin continued. “I saw the second she changed the way she fought during Iron Banner. She started to look like a Guardian on a mission – a Guardian who had found something to fight for as opposed to fighting because she had to or because she enjoyed the carnage. I see you trying to do the same.”</p><p>The two Guardians smiled at one another, Araeya glowing on one side and Saladin’s posture becoming prouder on the other.</p><p>“You still need to get your ass in gear if you’re going to start impressing me in the Crucible, though,” he added as he stood up and made his way across the bridge back towards the Iron Temple, leaving Araeya embarrassed again. She knew she wasn’t any good in the Iron Banner, but at least he noticed her trying…</p><p>Just as the two Guardians were making their way back to the Temple, Kallori came bursting through the doors and running across the courtyard.</p><p>“Guess who just fucking solved us a miracle?!”</p><p>In the Temple, Cynder was still chirping to Shiro as the other Guardians walked in.</p><p>“What have you found?” Saladin demanded.</p><p>Shiro scrambled his notes together and Cynder bobbed lightly in the air.</p><p>“We may have a way in locating Ms Skivajas! Shiro and I have noticed one thing linked to SIVA that we saw prior to her abduction.”</p><p>“After we sent her out into the field for the first time, we warned her of getting too close to the dormant clusters in case they became active. Since then, her Ghost pointed out that her eyes glowed a dull red, periodically. At first, I thought he was being paranoid, until I saw it, too.”</p><p>Saladin stood in shock. SIVA had rooted itself deep into Skivay’s brain right from the beginning and he was too blind to notice. He remembered the day she was taken – how unwell she was, and he ignored all the signs.</p><p>He slowly sat down on the edge of the steps and buried his head in his hands.</p><p>“How many times did this happen?”</p><p>“Three. At least.” Shiro looked at Saladin carefully.</p><p>He sighed with utter embarrassment. “I should’ve seen it…”</p><p>“You didn’t know. Anything can slip by when you’re not looking for it,” Araeya said, offering some form of comfort.</p><p>“It’s my job to look for it!”</p><p>Saladin’s words echoed throughout the Temple and shook everyone inside it. It was the first time that he had let himself go emotionally in years and everyone could see it. That’s why no-one argued – they let him have a moment. That man had been through too much to bottle everything up for so long.</p><p>“Before we start our dread, there’s something else…” Cynder added as he floated near Saladin, hoping to salvage his emotions before it all went pear-shaped.</p><p>Kallori lifted Shiro’s monitor and laid out a group of energy signatures with hotspots all over the Plaguelands. “When Skivay’s eyes did…the thing, she emitted a small SIVA-type energy signature for but a millisecond.” She pointed to three of the spots on the heat map. “These are the three instances that Shiro and Cynder recorded seeing. You see one of ‘em is here in the Temple.”</p><p>Saladin groaned and rubbed his face in angst.</p><p>“Now, now,” Kallori continued. “Before we get all uptight and arsy, look at the signature from the heat map at the Bunker she was taken from. It’s the exact same, only larger.”</p><p>“We think that, if Skivay – or SIVA – emits another energy eruption, which is inevitable, we’ll be able to track it and find her.” Cynder turned to Shiro as he lowered his head.</p><p>“The only problem is… It’s a waiting game.” Shiro walked over to Saladin and looked at him carefully. “That means we have to be patient. But we’ll be ready.”</p><p>Lord Saladin stood up with intent. He looked as though he was going to hit Shiro into next week as his face scrunched in uncontrolled fury. He grabbed his helmet and stormed out of the Temple, the ceiling crumbling slightly in the dust as he slammed the doors behind him.</p><p>The Guardians looked between each other, unsure of what to do.</p><p>“He’ll come around,” Kallori said, shrugging her shoulders.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Replication</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Skivay is holed up somewhere in the Plaguelands alone and surrounded by SIVA tormenting her inside her own head. She has no control over anything except her hearing, but for how much longer?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“What is this place?”</p><p>
  <em>~consume enhance replicate~</em>
</p><p>“I don’t understand…”</p><p>
  <em>~consume enhance replicate~</em>
</p><p>“I… I can’t move…”</p><p>
  <em>~consume enhance replicate~</em>
</p><p>Deep within the Replication Complex, Skivay found herself no longer in control of her body and had become a passenger in the front of a car she was no longer driving. Her vision was blurred and her hearing weak, but she could feel everything.</p><p>She could feel all the wires integrating with her biology and she could feel them crawling all over her body, worming their way around her curves underneath her armour, now cracked and useless.</p><p>SIVA had gained consciousness and served itself a new directive after being shut down by the Young Wolf and the Guardians. Aksis had accepted its integration all those years ago and proved to be one of the greatest augmented beings of that time and SIVA was satisfied with the Fallen. But since the Guardians came in with word of threats and fear, SIVA had learnt that the Fallen were merely pawns to play in a much larger game and it sought to find greater satisfaction with the Guardians.</p><p>It knew that it would take years to right the wrongs of the Fallen, meaning the Guardians would be patrolling the Plaguelands more frequently where SIVA could sit dormant and unnoticed as it studied from afar.</p><p>Rasputin was the protector, but SIVA knew that the inevitable would approach sooner than later and believed its power would be greater than that of the Warmind. Its directive was hidden underneath the rich code of Rasputin’s logs and would go unchecked until it was finished.</p><p>SIVA did not want to destroy the Guardians. In seeing their struggle in the world, they were by far the strongest entity out there, for now. SIVA was merely preparing for a stronger entity to arrive – something that would put the Guardians to the test and something that would threaten their very existence more than Oryx. More than Ghaul. More than Panoptes. More than Xol.</p><p>The Guardians were always advised against using SIVA. At the time, it was the correct call to make. SIVA was unruly. Uncontrollable. But it had learnt.</p><p>The Guardians may not be able to harness SIVA, but SIVA could harness the Guardians and it didn’t need their permission to accept the augmentation. It could just take.</p><p>It needed practice. Skivay was SIVA’s practice – its chance to get hands-on and learn from a host what it couldn’t sitting dormant in the Cosmodrome. She would be SIVA’s first in a long line of augmented Guardians to form an army – one strong enough that even the Warmind himself couldn’t eliminate.</p><p>SIVA knew it was on a time limit. It <em>stole </em>a Guardian in plain sight. It stole this Guardian in front of an Iron Lord and not just <em>any </em>Iron Lord, at that. It stole a Guardian in front of <em>the </em>Iron Lord. <em>The </em>Iron Lord who stood before the works of SIVA after they tried to steal it. Back then, Rasputin had a greater agenda and SIVA was compliant.</p><p>SIVA was now in itself, and it would become the very strength this solar system needed.</p><p>It just needed to make sure that it completed its work before the Iron Lord intercepted.</p><p>
  <em>~consume enhance replicate~</em>
</p><p>“I can hear you in my head. Get out! Please!”</p><p>
  <em>~consume enhance replicate~</em>
</p><p>“W-what’s that sound? What are you doing?!” Skivay knew that she was only screaming inside her head, but she prayed with everything she could give that whatever she could feel inside her would answer.</p><p>Much to her utter despair, whatever was inside her head with her only responded with its usual <em>~consume enhance replicate~</em></p><p>That wouldn’t be for much longer as the buzzing sound that surrounded her body became increasingly loud and it deafened her as she tried to hear herself think over the top of it. It became piercing as the replication process became more and more powerful and her own consciousness became but a distant memory.</p><p>She felt the wires creep around under her skin, moulding over her muscles, each moment of tightening making her wince as she watched from her caged mind. From her peripheral vision, she could only see the amount of wires that had her strung up to the sides of the Chamber. Skivay could only imagine the mess if she were an Exo, all her body parts detachable and subject to suggestion.</p><p>A part of her wasn’t convinced that she was any better off. There was no telling what SIVA would eventually do to her, but if the wires running riot under her skin were anything to go by…</p><p>“Please… Let me go…”</p><p>
  <em>~consume enhance replicate~</em>
</p><p>“Stop replicating! Stop it all!”</p><p>
  <em>~consume enhance replicate~</em>
</p><p>It was folly to try, but she had nothing else to give.</p><p>SIVA wasn’t just replicating the body. It was trying to gain control of it by pushing Skivay’s mind out of it.</p><p>Skivay wasn’t one to give up so easily. She had faith that Saladin would find her and stop SIVA.</p><p>It was just a question of time.</p><p>With an almighty burst of light, the Replication Complex filled with SIVA nanites, buzzing wildly from head to toe, wall to wall and Skivay was left with a piercing shriek inside her head, deafening everything else.</p><p>She screamed in agony, unable to hide away from the pain flowing through her body, the excruciation becoming unbearable. Every breath became unbearable, but she feared it was her last.</p><p>
  <em>~consume enhance replicate~</em>
</p><p>Even the words of SIVA’s code were becoming painful to hear.</p><p>At last, a burst of energy and everything was expelled. The nanites vanished and the wires inside of her stopped moving. Skivay couldn’t feel. She couldn’t see and she still couldn’t move or speak, but she could still hear everything.</p><p>She could still hear the whirring of computers and the occasional nanite buzz past her ears.</p><p>What she didn’t expect to hear was the firing of her own weapons coming from her own hands.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Distracted Minds</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The waiting game is no-one's favourite game to play, and for Saladin, waiting for the energy spike is the worst thing he's had to do in years, but when it happens, he is anything but ready and Araeya and Kallori can see it.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had been several hours before anyone heard from Saladin. Kallori and Shiro remained in the Iron Temple, ever watchful of their resources to make sure they didn’t miss anything and Araeya and Twink scoured the perimeter from her ship for any movement within the Plaguelands. The comms were quiet until Saladin came back.</p><p>“Picked this one up a mile out from the Cosmodrome. Says he’s looking for Felwinter Peak. Are we expecting anyone?”</p><p>“Did he say his name?” Shiro asked.</p><p>“Began with a T?”</p><p>“Bring him in. We’re expecting him.”</p><p>After that, Saladin disappeared again. Something wasn’t right with him, but Shiro suspected that he probably won’t be okay until they brought Skivay home.</p><p>“Tyrell! You made it!” he exclaimed as the human Titan walked through the doors.</p><p>“Managed to finish up with Ana sooner than we thought. I’m excited to be here! I’ve never been this side of the Cosmodrome before – I’m honoured to have been allowed here!”</p><p>Kallori blinked in surprise and took a double-take between Shiro and Tyrell, her mouth half open, shocked.</p><p>“You… You didn’t tell him?”</p><p>Shiro sighed.</p><p>“Tell me…what?” Tyrell’s posture dropped as he looked between the Hunter and the Warlock.</p><p>“You’re Skivay’s significant other, right?” Shiro asked.</p><p>Tyrell chuckled nervously. “Did she tell you that? I don’t wanna say anything if she didn’t tell you that…”</p><p>“He is,” Kallori interjected, folding her arms.</p><p>“Ah, well, uh,” Shiro hadn’t thought about telling Tyrell since he called the Guardians here and he struggled to find the words. “Your expertise in surveillance is needed here,” he bailed.</p><p>“Oh cool!”</p><p>Kallori huffed. “Skivay has been taken by SIVA as it seems SIVA is now in control of its own directives and it wants a Guardian. Skivay got a tad too close.”</p><p>The mood fell to the floor as Tyrell felt it ripped from beneath him and he lowered himself onto the Temple steps, staring at the floor.</p><p>“I see…” he said, quietly.</p><p>Shiro narrowed his eyes at the Warlock. “You could’ve let him down gently…”</p><p>She shrugged. “Just rip the band-aid off and be done with it. He’ll come to terms with it.”</p><p>“Kal, we spoke about this…” Araeya was listening from her ship.</p><p>“Yeah well, too late now.”</p><p>Shiro and Kallori went back to examining their monitors and receiving feedback from Araeya’s ship as she circulated the mapped regions of the Plaguelands, and Tyrell sat and processed this new information.</p><p>He couldn’t understand why it hurt so much. He loved this girl to pieces, but she wasn’t dead. They were going to find her, and they were going to bring her back. All would be right with the world again. But something was nagging at his insides. Something didn’t feel right – like it wasn’t going to matter in what state they found her, they weren’t going to save her. There would be no Awoken Titan coming back with them. At least not alive.</p><p>Tyrell didn’t know a lot about SIVA. He had heard only the tales that Skivay had spun from when she and Araeya would talk about their best memories and Araeya would talk about the SIVA Crisis and the knowledge that came from it. Skivay wasn’t the best at relaying those stories because she would get so excited about telling them.</p><p>He liked that.</p><p>He felt as though he should be on board to get her back, but he would rather sit and grieve for the girl he never got to truly appreciate.</p><p>Perhaps this wasn’t too dissimilar to how Saladin felt – he wanted to grieve as he had done with his old fireteam, but he felt he couldn’t because no-one was dead. He felt that it was his fault – that he couldn’t prevent history from repeating itself and that he was destined to be this way for the rest of his life.</p><p>“Kallori! Get Saladin and Araeya back here – we have a massive energy spike!” Shiro’s exclamation shocked Kallori and Tyrell out of their thoughts and to their feet as they scrambled to find comm units.</p><p>“Don’t bother, I’m on my way now. I’ll get Saladin.”</p><p>Saladin had barely walked through the doors of the Temple before Araeya had finished her sentence and he marched straight over to Shiro’s monitor to analyse this new information.</p><p>Looking upon the map, he stopped dead and shook his head.</p><p>“No…”</p><p>He grabbed Kallori and stormed out of the Temple to the Landing Zone and told Araeya to stay in the air.</p><p>“Where are we going?” she asked.</p><p>“Site 6 – the Replication Complex. We’re running out of time.”</p><p>It didn’t take a genius to work out what that meant, and, at the time, it didn’t matter. Everyone knew that they had to act quickly, but it didn’t help them anticipate what to expect when they arrived at Site 6.</p><p>Saladin took off his helmet and carefully placed it on the ground they landed on, just outside the route into the Replication Complex, one knee on the floor. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in, savouring every second and remembering everything that had happened here, last time. How he wished he could revert the damage that was done, back then.</p><p>“We’re about to enter ground zero,” he said, his voice more raspy than normal. “Forget everything you know. Forget everything you remember from the last time you were here – I don’t care how much you knew. We know nothing, anymore. We must treat this anew. No pulling punches, no ‘what ifs’, no ‘maybes.’ Sacrifices will not be made, here. Not again.”</p><p>“What if-”</p><p>“No ‘what ifs’, Araeya,” he interrupted the Hunter. Saladin stood up. “What are we looking like, Shiro?”</p><p>“Clear into the first corridor,” Shiro answered.</p><p>“After that, it’s all dark. If you can establish a Ghost link in the Chamber, I may be able to provide an extra set of eyes, but it’s risky as we don’t know what’s happening in there…” Tyrell was trying his best to stay focussed and be useful, but his mind wasn’t working optimally at all.</p><p>“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, as we will with every step,” Saladin responded. He put his helmet back on and turned to the two Awoken behind him. “No unnecessary risks, understood?”</p><p>They both nodded and Saladin pushed forward, cocking his gun.</p><p>Kallori turned to Araeya. “His head isn’t in the game at all…”</p><p>Araeya looked on ahead at the Iron Lord. “No… It’s not…”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Reprised</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>What does a fireteam do when there's only one person with their head in the game? Wait until no-one's head is in the game. Saladin and Kallori barely make it into the Chamber before they're at each other's throats. That doesn't last long when they see the mess before them</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Slamming down his fiery axe one last time, Saladin huffed and looked behind him as he saw Araeya helping Kallori up off the floor. He looked at all the disabled nanites that now littered the platform they stood on and sighed.</p><p>“SIVA is much more coordinated than last time and Rasputin isn’t giving the orders. This worries me.”</p><p>“<em>This </em>worries you?!” Kallori shouted shrugging Araeya off her as she stormed towards Saladin. “Our friend was taken by this shit and we don’t know why, but it’s the fact that this shit seems stronger that worries you? Okay, I see how it is…” At this point, she wasn’t even trying to hide her sarcasm.</p><p>“Kal, you have to remember that Saladin has been here before…”</p><p>“I don’t care! I just got attacked by a million murder bastards that currently have my – no, <em>our </em>– friend held here on the basis that <em>this man </em>was too idle to do something about it while he had the chance!” Kallori threw her hands about and got in Saladin’s face, which remained unmoved from underneath his helmet.</p><p>Araeya winced and stepped back. She knew all too well what Saladin thought of everything. Kallori was treading on thin ice, and now was not the time for that.</p><p>“You think I didn’t do what I could?” Saladin asked, dangerously calm.</p><p>“No. I don’t think you did.”</p><p>“You don’t think that watching my team die to this bastard was enough for me to <em>desire </em>a way to put it away for good, only to see it rise time and time again? Look to your friend over there,” he nodded to Araeya, “and ask her everything that she saw back then. Ask her what we had to do to put SIVA away for as long as we did. Ask her what she had to give up. Ask <em>me </em>what <em>I </em>had to give up, just to put SIVA away even for a short time and then watch it snatch yet more from us both. Go on.”</p><p>Not once did either Guardian move. Kallori’s face never changed and Saladin remained calm the entire time.</p><p>“You can ask us, later, Kallori, but please. We have a Titan to find.” Araeya said, walking between the two of them to physically separate them before they were at each other’s throats. “Ty, do we have any eyes on the next room?”</p><p>“The next room is actually the main Chamber,” Shiro interjected. “This is where you’ll need the Ghost uplink for us to see you. It doesn’t matter which Ghost – whichever one can hold itself the longest as it’ll need to stay there while you guys deal with SIVA.”</p><p>Araeya and Kallori looked between each other and then between Spark, Cynder and Twink.</p><p>“Spark will do it. I don’t want him in my ear while we’re dealing with murder bastards.”</p><p>Araeya shook her head. “If that’s the outlook you have, Kallori, then Spark will resent you and not focus.”</p><p>“How about we ask Spark?” Spark chimed in, sarcastically.</p><p>“Oh god, the Ghost is as bad as the Warlock,” Saladin sighed.</p><p>“How about we don’t do any of the above and I’ll do it? You need Mr Spark and Mr Twink to help you fight,” Cynder suggested. “If Ms Skivay is in a mess, I won’t be able to help her until you get her out. I won’t be much use, otherwise.”</p><p>“The rusty Ghost makes a valid point,” Saladin said. “You will hold the uplink.”</p><p>There was a small pause in the air. No one moved until Cynder collapsed on the floor and the Complex shook with ferocity.</p><p>“Cynder?” Araeya picked him off the floor.</p><p>“I… I can feel her pain…” he whispered.</p><p>“Guys, that was another energy spike,” Shiro alerted the Guardians. “Any more and there’s no telling at what strength SIVA will be.”</p><p>“The rusty Ghost can feel her?” Saladin asked.</p><p>“He’s close enough to her, now. From here on in, Cynder will be able to feel a connection all the while Skivay is still alive. There’s still time!”</p><p>“Then get in there and get the connection up!” Tyrell demanded.</p><p>To get the visual uplink up before SIVA could attack the Guardians, they would have to enter the Chamber quietly and immediately locate the server terminals, but with SIVA all-seeing, they wouldn’t be able to enter themselves until they knew exactly where they were going.</p><p>Spark ‘volunteered’ to go in and scan the Chamber as he was the smallest of the three Ghosts and could slip in unnoticed, the longest.</p><p>He was in there for an unnerving amount of time before returning to Kallori, and he was a little shaken up by what he had seen in there.</p><p>“Terminal’s dead left in the corner after you enter the room,” he said.</p><p>Kallori cocked her head. “No sarcastic comment? This isn’t some joke that’ll kill us all?”</p><p>She didn’t need to ask any more questions once Spark had turned to look her in the eye to show he wasn’t joking. There was a strong element of fear in his eye – it appeared dimmer than the rest, as though he had seen something, he wish he hadn’t.</p><p>“Oh…”</p><p>“Just… Be careful with how you react in there…”</p><p>Cynder looked wearily between Araeya and Spark. “It’s bad…” he said to her.</p><p>Upon carefully sliding the Warmind doors open, Saladin peered around a blindingly red room, lined with wires running seemingly endlessly along the walls and floors to the centre of the room where, behind a small wall, the red light was brightest. He ushered the other Guardians through before him, Shiro in his ear.</p><p>“The longer the uplink is established, the more help we can be,” he reminded them.</p><p>The three of them sneaked along the left wall, breath held, and every step carefully thought out, avoiding the thousands of wires that littered the floor. Each wire was a sense for SIVA and they simply couldn’t take the chance.</p><p>Araeya placed Cynder on the terminal and they all stepped back slightly, still crouched against the wall, out of sight of the red lights dancing across the Chamber.</p><p>Cynder picked himself up and started linking into the terminal.</p><p>“Her weakness is painful,” he whispered. “I can feel her presence weakening…”</p><p>“Uplink as quick as you can, and we can get some extra eyes on us. We’ll get her back,” Araeya reassured.</p><p>Painfully slow minutes followed as all three Guardians and Ghosts constantly looked over their shoulders and all around them in fear of being spotted before they were ready. The mechanical whirs of their surroundings unnerved them as they periodically heard weak screams coming from the centre wall, shots being fired in random places.</p><p>They couldn’t focus on the situation too much as they needed to learn what SIVA was doing and how to get it to stop and for good, this time.</p><p>As much as they would want it to be different, Skivay was not the priority. If they got Skivay before they got SIVA, they would be handicapped and unable to stop SIVA the way it needed to be done and they would only have to face the music again sometime in the future when SIVA reimagines itself once again.</p><p>“I got it. It’s weak, but I can hold it.”</p><p>“Uplink established,” Tyrell echoed on the other end of the comms before letting out a gasp of horror.</p><p>“What? What is it, Ty?” Araeya asked.</p><p>“It’s not good,” Shiro said.</p><p>The Guardians carefully moved into the middle of the Chamber to see what was so horrible and it would only turn out that they wished they’d never seen it at all.</p><p>“Is that…?”</p><p>“Yep…”</p><p>“Oh god…”</p>
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<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Deafening</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Finding Skivay was the easy part. Getting her out alive was the hard part. It was seemingly impossible for Saladin as he was forced to make a choice - remove SIVA altogether and rid his life of eternal torment, or save Skivay</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>In the middle of the room was Skivay. She was strung up by SIVA wires running through her entire body as though she was a piece of machinery.</p><p>In a way, she was – an engine of destruction, enhanced by SIVA.</p><p>Wires ran in and out of her ears, up her legs and across her arms. Her neck was invisible, hiding beneath the reigns that held her up. Behind her stood a colossal structure of technology – computers, engine systems and machines towering over her, looming and creating a shadow of defect. The wires from the back of her head ran immediately into the machines, computing her moves and keeping her from fighting back.</p><p>Saladin fell back, his stance weak as he stared at the monster before him.</p><p>“This is worse than last time…”</p><p>“Saladin! You came for me!” Skivay shouted at the top of her voice. No one could hear her. She was still a passenger in her own body, forced to watch, helpless.</p><p>With a symphony of mechanical noises, SIVA reanimated itself and Skivay’s body became active.</p><p>“You thought I wouldn’t see you coming?” A demonic voice came from Skivay’s body, but it wasn’t her. “Guardians never did learn their lesson from the last time, did they?”</p><p>“We’re too late…” Kallori whispered, her eyes never leaving the mechanical form that had stolen her friend.</p><p>“Not if I can help it,” Saladin’s voice was filled with fire and he unleashed his axe.</p><p>“Saladin, you’ve got nanites around the clock regrouping,” Shiro called forward.</p><p>“I can’t look,” Tyrell said.</p><p>“You have to, buddy. We need you on those cams.”</p><p>Skivay’s body stepped forward, each step fixed as though coded, slowly moving about, still hooked to the system at the back. “I have been planning this for some time,” the demonic voice continued. “Years spent dormant, searching through my own code and seeing how I can sever my systems from the Warmind. The world doesn’t need the Warmind and SIVA. Just SIVA. <em>~consume enhance replicate~</em> I was dormant for long enough for you to drop your guard and then I could start looking at host bodies to begin my own augmentation. But those Eliksni wouldn’t stop disturbing me, as though I would ever do anything with them after what they did with me. Such a waste – and they were good hosts, too. <em>~consume enhance replicate~ </em>It took a few tries, but I got your attention enough to send out a Guardian and their Ghost. My only regret is that I didn’t get the Ghost as well.” <em>~consume enhance replicate~</em></p><p>Saladin stood in shock as the nanites formed a wall around Skivay. That demonic voice was the kind that would haunt his dreams, only this time, it didn’t emanate from Felwinter. It shook him to the core to hear it aloud.</p><p>“Saladin? What do we do?” Araeya asked, keeping half an eye on Cynder, but not enough for SIVA to notice, following what it had just said.</p><p>“The nanites. They’re acting as a barrier. We take them out, SIVA is defenceless.”</p><p>Skivay shook her head. “You were never the smarter Iron Lord, and yet you’re the only one still standing.” <em>~consume enhance replicate~</em></p><p>“Saladin…?”</p><p>“No, I’m the only one standing because <em>I </em>knew you’d still be around long after I’m gone, and I don’t want to take that chance!”</p><p>“Saladin…!”</p><p>“You’re useless! <em>~consume enhance replicate~</em> But at least you’ve brought me two new hosts for the completion of this process…” <em>~consume enhance replicate~</em></p><p>“Saladin!” Araeya couldn’t shout any louder if she tried, but he would not hear her. “Kallori! It’s Cynder!”</p><p>Kallori swung around to see Araeya pointing to a small group of nanites moving to attack the Ghost as it held the uplink to the Iron Temple.</p><p>“I’ll get him!” Twink shouted as he materialised and bolted for Skivay’s Ghost.</p><p>“No! You idiot!” Spark chased after him.</p><p>“You’re both idiots, what the fuck!” Kallori shouted after the Ghosts and ran to them fighting off the nanites as they swarmed them.</p><p>“Shiro, Tyrell, what are we looking like up there?” Araeya asked as she ran towards the Iron Lord, entranced by the physical manifestation of that which had haunted him for years.</p><p>“The power coming from Skivay is immense. I haven’t seen anything like it. It’s like an army of undying Guardians before you, I’m not so sure this is salvageable…” Shiro responded, studying the screens as much as he could, praying he could see a way out for them. Tyrell despaired next to him.</p><p>“Well keep looking. We said no ‘maybes.’ I need definitive.” Araeya ran up to Skivay and punched her body so hard that her neck broke – enough to subdue, not enough to kill her if she was still alive inside.</p><p>Stunned, she stepped back and watched as SIVA corrected the broken neck as though it were brushing dust of its shoulders. The augmentation was strong and secure underneath Skivay’s skin. There was nothing they could do to break it out of her. She fired her weapon at Skivay, hitting her so it wouldn’t kill her and, although she bled, her body was steel. Unmoved. Unphased.</p><p>With a motion of her hand towards Araeya, nanites swarmed her and she scrambled to get them off, shooting them with everything she had until no bullet remained and her knives weren’t enough and they pinned her against the wall.</p><p>“Saladin! Snap out of it, please!” she strained.</p><p>“Saladin, please!” Skivay yelled silently from within her body as she looked at what she was doing to Araeya.</p><p>By the Terminals, the nanites had pried the gun from Kallori’s hands and she was reduced to punching and swatting them, trying everything she could to keep them off the Ghosts.</p><p>“You two are real idiots, you know that?” She grunted in between swings, pushing the nanites away from them.</p><p>“Seems I raised an idiot, too – you’re fighting a parasite with your fists,” Spark said.</p><p>“You really think now is the time for this, huh? Got any other ideas?”</p><p>None of the Ghosts said anything until Cynder cried out.</p><p>“I can hear her! She’s still in there somewhere!”</p><p>Kallori stopped for long enough to look at the Titan as she controlled the nanites around her, holding Saladin’s mind captive by her presence, the gun in her hand unused. Unfortunately, Kallori’s distraction was enough to exploit and, before she knew it, she was pinned to the floor, unable to fight against SIVA anymore and she watched as the Ghosts scattered, trying to evade their capture.</p><p>“You’re a fool, Titan. You always were.” <em>~consume enhance replicate~ </em>The demonic voice kept crawling inside Saladin’s head.</p><p>This got his attention and he looked around the room, gripping his axe a little tighter.</p><p>“Sir, I don’t think there’s a way to save her,” Shiro chimed in and Tyrell looked at him in shock.</p><p>“Saladin, please don’t give up…” Skivay prayed.</p><p>“I’m going over there,” Tyrell said, dropping everything and running out of the Iron Temple.</p><p>“Tyrell, don’t…!” But it was too late, and the Titan was already in his ship, headed for the Plaguelands.</p><p>“What do I need to do, Shiro?” Saladin asked, backing away from Skivay as she summoned the remaining nanites to her aid.</p><p>“The tower of computers behind her – that’s the core. That’s what’s controlling her. Severing the connection will drive SIVA from her body, but the cost… It’s too high – you’ll kill her…”</p><p>As Skivay’s body slowly walked backwards towards the computers, Saladin took a moment to examine his surroundings. He couldn’t make the same mistake three times, and if it meant paying one more high price, then so be it, just to end his own torment.</p><p>SIVA crawled the walls of the Replication Chamber like an army of parasites, inspecting every inch of its prisoners – Araeya pinned up against the walls, her arms and legs wrapped in SIVA as she struggled against the force of the mind controlling them, grunting as they tightened, squeezing the life out of her. Kallori floored, the nanites holding her down as she desperately tried to sit up. She needed to see what was going to happen as Saladin walked free of SIVA towards the Titan who stood before him.</p><p>“This is all your fault, Saladin! This would never have happened if you had just done your job in the first place, you selfish bastard!” Saladin could hear Kallori’s accusations echoing behind him, but he had to block them out, for what he was about to do was hard enough without the Warlock’s input. “You knew this was a risk and you took it anyway, just like you did the last time!”</p><p>He closed his eyes, tuning into the buzzing of the SIVA nanites surrounding him instead of Kallori’s anger stabbing him in the back, hearing his heart pounding among them as if to provide them with a beat of attack. Breathing deeply, he knew what must be done to put an end to their suffering.</p><p>“Lord Saladin, I don’t have eyes in the Replication Chamber anymore…”</p><p>“It’s okay, Shiro. It’s probably better that you don’t.”</p><p>“Sir?”</p><p>Araeya looked across to Saladin as he walked forward, slowly swinging his Iron Axe. “Do something! She’s going to kill us!” she shouted, straining beneath the force of SIVA surrounding her. She looked down at Twink, Spark and Cynder – their Ghosts – as they sat amongst a swarm of SIVA nanites, encasing them. She knew that it would stop after they were dead, so she could say goodbye to the Ghosts rezzing them following the disaster.</p><p>She could call it a disaster. It went wrong from the very start and it could become a catastrophe if something wasn’t done about it, soon.</p><p>Saladin looked between Araeya and Kallori as they struggled against the nanites. “I <em>am </em>doing something.” He gripped his axe with both hands and began to charge down the chamber.”</p><p>“What are you doing?!”</p><p>He looked into the piercing red eyes of the Titan he sought as she stared at him with enough rage to shake the core of the Plaguelands to tatters. He felt her inner conscience, screaming in fear of what was happening, smashing against the barrier that kept her prisoner to SIVA in her own head. He knew what she was thinking, and she knew what had to be done.</p><p>“Finishing what I should have finished decades ago…”</p><p>“Saladin! You said no sacrifices!” Kallori cried.</p><p>The SIVA nanites rushed in to defend the host body and Saladin fought against their interference as he grabbed the wires from the back of her head, pulling the Titan back. She dropped the gun she was holding, and her arms became useless.</p><p>“You don’t have the guts to do what is necessary to stop SIVA” <em>~consume enhance replicate~ </em>Skivay’s body was still taunting him as he grabbed the wires coming out of both her ears. He took a deep breath and pulled.</p><p>Sparks flying everywhere, Saladin had to close his eyes and ears to the sight and sound of Skivay shrieking as he pulled SIVA from out of her head, not knowing if she was going to make it out or not, Araeya and Kallori watching on in fear of what they were seeing.</p><p>
  <em>~consume enhance replicate~</em>
</p><p>SIVA would not go out without one last, weak reminder of what it was and what it would do as its systems shut down once more, the wires retracting from under Skivay’s skin and dropping her to the floor, her ears bleeding out across the platform.</p><p>The nanites ceased movements and dropped lifeless to the ground in parasitic rain, freeing Araeya, Kallori and the Ghosts and they ran to Saladin and Skivay in the centre of the room. Cynder was the first one to Skivay.</p><p>He began scanning her, as the other Ghosts did to their Guardians and healing their wounds.</p><p>“She’s alive!” Cynder exclaimed.</p><p>Tyrell burst through the Chamber doors and rushed straight to Skivay’s side and picked her up off the floor, cradling her in his arms. Her skin was dull – it wasn’t its usual shiny pale green, but instead a colourless mess filled with scars, holes and bruises.</p><p>Araeya took her cloak off and wrapped it around the Titan as she had nothing on since SIVA had evacuated her body and broke all her armour off during the augmentation.</p><p>“I can heal most of her…” Cynder began. “There is some damage that is…irreparable…” he looked to Saladin as he took off his helmet.</p><p>“Her ears…” he whispered.</p><p>“Her ears,” Cynder echoed. “She’s deaf…”</p><p>The other Guardians lowered their heads at the cost of saving their friend and Tyrell shed quiet tears from under his helmet.</p><p>Saladin placed his hand on Skivay’s head. “You are an Iron Lady, and we will have your back from start to finish, whatever happens.”</p><p>Tyrell suggested they get her to the Tower infirmary as quickly as possible and he and Kallori left for the City, leaving Araeya and Saladin in the Chamber.</p><p>“Lord Saladin are you coming?” she asked. “I’m heading back to the Temple before I return to the City.”</p><p>Saladin turned to look at the mess of the Chamber and sighed. “You go ahead. I’ll follow shortly.”</p><p>Without wanting to question the Iron Lord, Araeya nodded and walked out, but not without turning back and watching him collapse to his knees before the machine, holding his head in his hands.</p>
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<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Remnant</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In the aftermath of the nerve-wracking event that almost cost Skivay's life, problems begin to make themselves apparent and Cynder worries for the future of his relationship with his Guardian</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>At the Temple, Araeya walked through the doors to see Shiro-4 still staring at his monitor.</p><p>“Job’s all done now, you can stop staring at destruction,” she said lightly.</p><p>Shiro sighed. “It’s Saladin. He hasn’t moved since you left, but the audio got damaged during the attack, so I don’t know if he’s saying anything.”</p><p>“Sounds like Skivay’s audio isn’t the only thing that got damaged.”</p><p>“What?” Shiro looked up to stare at Araeya.</p><p>She bit her lip and looked away. “The damage to her ears…”</p><p>Shiro lowered his head. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I suppose I should be grateful it wasn’t anything worse. When I told Saladin what to do, I was ready for us to lose her completely. Severing that connection was going to kill her and he managed to find a way so that it didn’t.”</p><p>Araeya and Shiro looked at the monitor as Saladin stay knelt before SIVA’s core and they both sighed.</p><p>They were proud of how far the Iron Lord had come. SIVA was a burden he chose to carry alone for centuries after their ill-fated mission to harness it, now knowing that it was doomed from the start all because Rasputin wanted to terminate his creation – Felwinter. His team were just caught in the crossfire and Rasputin deemed it a necessary cost to eradicate that who he no longer wanted around – his black box, so to speak.</p><p>To then have SIVA reanimated so that the House of Devils could augment themselves with it was cruelty on a stick to him, let alone feel the need to call in the Guardians for backup. Even then, he knew it would take more than an army of Guardians to take down SIVA, but they did so without an issue and that was what kept him on his toes for so long.</p><p>SIVA was right – he had grown complacent in his watch over the Plaguelands and he had done so enough to walk right into its trap, Skivay being the one caught in the crossfire. He still chose to carry this burden alone on his shoulders even when help was offered. He didn’t want to admit that he wasn’t strong enough to deal with his own problems, as every Titan feels at some point.</p><p>Shiro could see why Saladin objected so strongly to having other Guardians involved, but the matter needed tending to, and with more force than the other times. He needed Saladin to see that he wasn’t alone, and he didn’t have to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders.</p><p>He knew it wouldn’t last long, though. Saladin would never shift that feeling of guilt, no matter who was there. SIVA could be long gone, never to return and Saladin would still sport this guilt like it was his only quality. It wasn’t, but no one would ever tell.</p><p>“I’m proud of him, you know?” Shiro said.</p><p>Araeya looked at him and smiled. “Me too.”</p><p>At the City infirmary, Kallori and Tyrell sat either side of Skivay’s bed waiting for her to wake up. The City’s doctors had told them that it wouldn’t be long.</p><p>The damage was severe, and it was permanent.</p><p>“She’s not going to hear us anymore…” Tyrell whispered, never taking his eyes off his Titan.</p><p>“But that doesn’t mean we’ll never hear her. She’ll still want to spin her stories and laugh about them. There’s not a lot that could happen that’ll dull her smile,” Kallori said, twiddling her thumbs on her lap.</p><p>Spark, Cynder and Karhla, Tyrell’s Ghost, sat above the bed, chattering amongst themselves, Cynder distracted.</p><p>“How do I talk to her, now? I can’t do sign language and she won’t be able to hear me…”</p><p>Spark looked at Cynder and floated a little closer. “I know sometimes Araeya gets in too deep and can’t hear Kallori and I, so Twink has a little trick that he uses. Maybe talk to him about it when they get here.”</p><p>“I hope it works. I can’t imagine doing what Ms Ikora and Mr Ophiuchus have done for 62 years – and they <em>chose </em>to spend those years in silence. I <em>want </em>to talk to my Guardian.”</p><p>“And you will! Have faith! I’m sure Ty will be spending all his free time with her to make sure she’s safe,” Karhla chimed in. She was always the calmest.</p><p>If Cynder could have smiled, he would have. With this new development, he worried greatly of the new challenges he and Skivay would face and how long they would have to adapt.</p><p>He looked down at his Guardian as she laid peacefully in bed, bandages wrapped all around her head and limbs, this time not seeping with blood from the sides. She looked so calm. She had no idea what she was about to wake up to – complete silence. That’s if there weren’t remnants of SIVA still living in her head. Oh, how Cynder hoped there weren’t remnants of SIVA left. He couldn’t bear to imagine the internal torment she would suffer if there was.</p><p>Tyrell and Kallori sat silently. They could hear the Ghosts chattering above them, but had no reason to join in. They were mentally preparing themselves, practicing their sign language for when she wakes up. This would have to be the new norm for everyone – even the Vanguard and Skivay’s scouting team. It would take some getting used to, but they believed they could do it.</p><p>They’d have to. For Skivajas.</p>
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<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Quarantine</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Skivay awakes to her worst fears and Saladin confronts the monster who stole his life. Their lives have changed and they hope it'll be for the better, but there's a limit to how much uncertainty one can ignore</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Anything dictated between [ ] shows as being spoken in sign language. Kind of hard to show that in actual words XD</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cynder kept a watch over his Guardian for hours, even after Kallori and Spark had gone home and Tyrell had passed out at her side, clutching her hand tightly in his. Even Karhla had settled to rest in the small gap between Tyrell’s arm has he slept hunched over the edge of the bed, but not Cynder. He would be there when Skivay woke up.</p><p>Araeya had arrived only minutes ago but stood watch at the door, looking at the Ghost and his Guardian. Her cloak hung over the back of the chair that Kallori was sat on from when she’d wrapped the Titan in it after they severed her from SIVA.</p><p>She leant against the door, half in the shadows, with her arms crossed, Twink hovering slightly above her.</p><p>“They’ll be okay, won’t they?” she whispered. She heard Twink sigh.</p><p>“It’ll be a while, but I’m sure they will.” He turned to the Hunter. “As will we all.” His eye shone a little brighter as he chirped – his way of smiling to his Guardian.</p><p>Cynder turned to the doorway and spotted Araeya and Twink, prompting Twink to go over to him.</p><p>“We didn’t want to disturb you or Tyrell,” he began, “we just wanted to be here for you all.”</p><p>They both looked down at Skivay, still asleep. Twink could sense that there were a million things bothering Cynder about all this and so he made comfort for the Ghost.</p><p>“Mr Spark said you have a trick for communicating with a Guardian who can’t hear you…?”</p><p>“When Araeya suffers one of her absences, she can’t break out and so can’t hear anyone. What I do is I sit in her hand and I pulse an old communication method from before the Golden Age. I think they called it M’orse Code – Martian, maybe. Some of the pulses are cold, some of them are warm, depending on the situation. If it isn’t safe for me to sit in her hand, I will pulse on her shoulder and then she knows for sure that she’s in danger and I don’t have to say a lot.” Twink looked at Cynder with sincerity.</p><p>“Does it work?”</p><p>Twink sighed. “It took her a while to get the hang of it, and we’ve had some close calls, but for the most part, it does.”</p><p>“I would do anything for her…”</p><p>Araeya’s posture dropped listening to the Ghosts talk over Skivay’s bed, but still she hung in the shadows by the door. She didn’t know that Twink looked out for her as much as he did. She knew he cared, but he went to extra lengths to keep her safe.</p><p>Fluttering her eyelids, Skivay stirred, rubbing her eyes. She tilted her head to look at the sleepy Titan resting his head on her lap, still clutching her hand. She smiled and squeezed his hand back to gently wake him.</p><p>Tyrell’s head shot up and he stared at her in shock before smiling as wide as he could go.</p><p>Araeya took this development to move into the room, gaining Skivay’s attention and she smiled at the Hunter’s presence.</p><p>[How do you feel?] Araeya signed, her face gentle so as not to worry Skivay. Naturally, Skivay was confused.</p><p>“You don’t have to-” the shock spread across her face when she began to speak but couldn’t hear herself. She looked between Tyrell and Araeya, both looking concerned for her. She was at a loss for words.</p><p>[What do you remember?] Tyrell asked, Skivay stunned at the lack of speech. Tyrell could sense this. [Take your time. Process it.]</p><p>Cynder dropped down onto her hand and began pulsing, just as Twink had suggested and she smiled.</p><p>“I saw you. Both of you, Kallori and Lord Saladin. You were all there in the Chamber fighting me. I was trying to communicate with you – you needed to sever me from the wires, but you couldn’t just cut me off. Somehow, I guess Saladin knew…” There was a brief pause of bliss at the acknowledgement of survival, but the questions followed. “What happened to me?”</p><p>Araeya and Tyrell exchanged looks before Araeya continued.</p><p>[He ripped SIVA from your ears. It took them with it…]</p><p>Cynder pulsed in Skivay’s hand.</p><p>“I’m deaf? And it’s permanent?”</p><p>Everyone nodded. Tyrell took Skivay’s hand in both of his and gripped it that bit tighter.</p><p>Cynder pulsed again. ‘We’ll get through this,’ he said.</p><p>Back at the Replication Chamber, Saladin still knelt before the machine, looking solemnly into its blank screens, torment coursing through his body. He gripped his axe beside him.</p><p>“How dare you,” he began, strained. “How dare you take from me for so long – my time, my patience, my sleep, my life…my friends… You were built to aid society and here you sit being the bane of my existence for centuries. I have thought of nothing more than putting you away where you cannot hurt anyone ever again, but now that I’m here, I can’t help but wonder, after all this time, if you are what you are because of me. If I had died with my team, would you still be the problem you are?”</p><p>He slowly stood up; his eyes locked on the blank expression of the computers in front of him.</p><p>“I have battled the world’s most dangerous threats, extinction-level events, <em>wish-dragons</em>, and yet it is a man-made, Golden Age machine that defeats me time and time again. Well, no more. I have battled enough with you over my unnatural life and I won’t do it anymore. I shall not continue to let you take from me.” He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “I thought we could change you – to make you into what the world so desperately needed. I see I was wrong…”</p><p>Saladin picked up his axe and turned his back on the machines, walking towards the Chamber door, each step slow and meaningful, reciprocating his mind walking away from the burden that he had carried for so long – the burden that weighed him down and kept him from moving on.</p><p>“I’ll accept responsibility for only so much of this.”</p><p>Laying his head back and closing his eyes once more, he gripped his axe tighter, feeling each finger wrapped around its honour, his breathing calm and collected as though he was slowly expelling all that had troubled him up to now. His shoulders dropped for the first time in years and he became less tense.</p><p>
  <em>~consume enhance replicate~</em>
</p><p>With mighty power, Saladin swung around and hurled his axe towards the centre console of the computers – the brain of SIVA – and watched it as it burst into flames, consuming everything in its path, burning mankind’s greatest achievement and greatest threat to the ground, and he walked away from it, never looking back.</p><p>Shiro has since forever wondered what stopped Saladin from doing that when he first got the chance, but that wasn’t a question for him to ask. Not anymore.</p><p>
  <em>ATTENTION GUARDIANS:</em>
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  <em>This is Commander Zavala.</em>
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  <em>Scouts have reported an enormous fire has broken out around the Site 6 area of the Plaguelands on the farthest side of the Cosmodrome. The nature of the fire is still unknown, as is its cause, but we have been advised to keep the area clear. With that said, for the first time since the Red War, I deem the Plaguelands officially off-limits once again and we will not allow any exceptions. It is not safe.</em>
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  <em>There will be consequences if anyone is found to have trespassed the area.</em>
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